Worlds Fall Apart
by Sakurazukamori6
Summary: Ten years in the past the twins meet a Hunter who makes an attempt on both of their lives. And while one twin feels utter disgust towards the human, the other feels an inexplicable attraction that has spanned many lifetimes to reach him. SeiSub FuuKam
1. Act 1: the Fated Meeting

"I've finally caught up to you, Subaru-kun," Seishirou said with a pleased smile. He began to walk towards them, causing an already on edge Kamui to bring his claws forward in warning.

"Stay where you are, Hunter. I won't let you touch even a hair on his head."

"Did you hear that?" Seishirou announced to no one in particular, or so they thought, until Fuuma walked out of the shadow of the building, a pleased smile also gracing his features.

"I did indeed hear, Seishirou-niisan," Fuuma said as he came to a stop beside him. "And I must apologize for Kamui's behavior: he becomes very cranky when he misses out on his breakfast."

"Yes, he does lack manners. I would think that Subaru-kun would have rubbed off him after all this time, but that does not seem to be case. How unfortunate for him."

"If this is all you have to say then save your breath, both of you, or else lose your tongues." Kamui sliced at the air in front of him with his claws, daring them to come any closer than they were.

"I wish to keep my tongue, thank you," Seishirou said, falsely polite. "But Fuuma, by all means, you are more than welcome to have your fun. Go play, and leave the adults to their boring conversation," Seishirou said, the stare he had pinned Subaru with slowly deteriorating into a leer. "I also did not grow you up to be impolite and leave a dance partner unattended to."

"Yes, Nii-san," Fuuma said, clenching his fist. "I certainly want to show Kamui what a real gentleman is like." He crossed over Seishirou's shadow and headed towards Kamui, who was now slowly backing away. The hand he had thrown in front of Subaru, which functioned both as a guard and a posturing mechanism, began to press against the other's stomach, silently imploring him to retreat along with him. But Subaru took a hold of his wrist in a gesture to stop.

"Hello Seishirou-san," Subaru greeted flatly but also with a bit of tenderness in his voice, as if he could not help it. He boldly stepped out from behind Kamui's hand, and his twin reached out to him again, imploring with sad eyes to return to the shelter of his arms; but Subaru had his back to him and missed the display entirely, his disregard intentional, but not his unkindness.

"It has been a long time," Subaru said.

"Too long," Seishirou said, "But luckily Fate has brought us together again." He held a hand out to him as if asking for a dance and, walking over to him like he was possessed, Subaru answered that summon and rested a gloved hand in his own.

"Subaru!" Kamui shouted behind him.

"I will be fine," Subaru said, as Seishirou chivalrously knelt down on one knee in front of him, his hand still in his possession, and slipped off the white glove. He tucked it in his front breast pocket—his keepsake for this meeting, or that was what his smile told Subaru, anyway—as he bestowed a kiss upon his bare hand. "You are as cute as ever, Subaru-kun," he purred and did not let go of his hand as he stood, even tightening his own around it and pulling them closer together by that hold. He held it between their bodies with a placid smile. "I hope I am not inconveniencing you with my short notice."

"You're not," Subaru said tersely.

"Then I hope it's not too much to ask for a moment of your time. We have a lot of catching up to do. I only wish we had a lifetime to get to it all."

Subaru was not surprised when Seishirou suddenly swept him up in his arms and began to nonchalantly make for the edge of the building.

"I hope you two have fun," he called behind him.

"We will entertain ourselves," Fuuma called back and ran headlong into Kamui, tackling him off the other side of the building at the same time that Seishirou dropped to the building underneath. The sounds of glass shattering and cement being ripped up off the building exterior could suddenly be heard behind them, but Seishirou paid no mind to it and walked on with the spoils of the previous encounter being carried off in his arms. He jumped to the roof across from him when he got to the end of this one, and then did the same thing two more times until he had put a good amount of distance between him and the fighting pair, reducing the sounds of their destruction to his and Subaru's romantic background music.

The rooftop that Seishirou lighted upon had a shoddy billboard on low supports, overlooking and shadowing a bunch of crates that were draped with gray tarps. It was here that Seishirou set Subaru down.

The vampire immediately turned his back to him and silently faced the crates, as if they were a pair of ordinary lovers and Subaru was ignoring him because of an argument they'd had. Seishirou put his hands on Subaru's shoulders and squeezed gently.

Thunder boomed in the distance and a few heavy rain-drops pattered the tarps. The overcast sky was rumbling deeply, warning of a storm, and Subaru heeding that warning moved over to the crates. He turned around and, within the confined space, his eyes met Seishirou's as he pressed back into the crate, seeking shelter from the downpour that suddenly erupted from the sky.

It only took three or four long strides for Seishirou to meet him, the man pressing him further into the crate, seeking his own shelter, until Subaru gave up his purchase on the solid ground under his feet and slid into a small space created by two crates stacked on either side of him.

The air was stuffy in the space, made even more humid by the warm rain, but Subaru could not be bothered to care as Seishirou leaned into him, between his legs, his face an inch away from his own. Subaru could see the rain beyond his shoulder, most likely pelting his back, and as their faces drew near and they shared the first long kiss of a decade since they had began this chase, Subaru drew up the long side of his cloak around Seishirou's back and head to shield him from the rain.

"I do not know anyone better to wait out a storm with. Your fashion-sense certainly saves me the trouble of dry-cleaning," Seishirou said.

"I try, Seishirou-san," Subaru said and smiled shyly into his lips.

"Your brother grows less fond of me as the days pass. Will your kin never stop calling me a Hunter?"

"Not until they forget about the past," Subaru said sadly, cupping Seishirou's cheek in one loving palm. "I have missed you."

"You have been running from me, you mean," Seishirou said and took hold of the hand cupping his cheek, laying a kiss on each finger. "I find those two things very different—this missing and running business."

"I go where my brother goes. He believes I need protecting from many things, not only you. He also enjoys the travel. We have met so many people on our journeys and, though he still detests humans, he has opened up to them so much since we left the Tower."

"And while this is all well and good for Kamui, when are you going to leave your dear brother and return to my side." Seishirou brushed his fingertips through the locks near Subaru's ear, but his gentle touch turned dark and possessive when his prompting for a kiss was met with a turned head, his fingers suddenly fisting the locks at the back of Subaru's head, his other hand lifting Subaru's chin so he could stare deeply into his green-colored eyes.

"You know our courting is not a desirable element within my world." There was anguish in his eyes as he said this that caused the green color to glisten and blur.

"Yes, but I am no longer human," Seishirou added. He let go of Subaru's chin and ran that same hand through his hair, then did it again, this time both hands employed in smoothing up his swan-like neck and raking through his scalp. "We are joined by the same blood, the same need." Seishirou punctuated this statement by gripping his hair, this time with both hands. "You made it so. You wished for me to find you."

"Yes… but not now," Subaru said and lowered his eyes. "I can't go with you. I still have responsibilities to my Clan and… to my brother. Please understand, my love."

Seishirou took a deep breath. His eyes flashed white, and as he gripped the back of his head in his two powerful hands, Subaru stared into his eyes and the predator stared back, unsatisfied with the answer he had been given. "It took me a great deal of time to get to this point, and while I greatly enjoyed the chase, at the last stretch I grew very impatient. I am not asking anymore, dear Subaru."

"But we are so close. It could be here."

"I do not think you were ever meant to save them," Seishirou said coolly.

"But we don't know that," Subaru continued, slapping Seishirou in the face with his blind optimism. "Please don't let all these years go to waste on a whimsy. I trusted you to--"

"Has our time apart made you forget what kind of man I am? I only offered you a head start. I did not say anything about letting you go once I caught up."

"But they will not be able to survive the curse if this goes on much longer!" Subaru threw his hands forward and they impacted with Seishirou's chest, and he used that force to push away. He stumbled back against one of the crates and turned his head away. "They will die. My entire clan will be wiped out," he said softly, pleadingly.

"Then let them," Seishirou said flippantly and hoped off the crate. "The only one I need from your clan is right here. Do not worry, familial ties are easily broken, and your brother has gotten between us long enough. I will have Fuuma kill him here and then you can return with me. You will understand when this is all over. I am doing this for your best interests, really." Seishirou raised his arm and wisps of dark energy began to circulate around his palm, congealing and forming into a large crow. It cawed at Subaru once and then shattered into thousand of pieces before reassembling into a katana. It floated before Seishirou before he grabbed it out of the air, brandishing it towards the vampire.

"Now come Subaru-kun, let's not allow Fuuma and Kumui to upstage us in our dance."

* * *

**10 years ago**

"You fell asleep again," Subaru said in a disapproving tone. "You mustn't do that when the_ Adunarea_ is in session."

"But that's the only time I _can_ sleep," Kamui laughed. "They're so old and boring. They make me want to sleep." Kamui ran ahead, his footsteps echoing in the long stone corridor.

Gray blocks extended out as far as the eye could see, like the corridor went on forever. Air seeped into the crevices in the mortar, and a draft could always be felt sweeping through, low and moaning, and encouraging the servants to pick up their step whenever they ventured here. It was cold and dank, but it was the only passage to the _Adunarea's_ wing of the Castle, and Kamui and Subaru were forced to make use of it whenever they were summoned.

Kamui spun around to wait for him, the purple cloak around his shoulders flowing along with his steps, this way and that, and Suburu smiled as he watched his little brother at play. Even in royal garb he still managed to retain his carefree spirit.

Subaru followed the silver trim along the borders of his cloak. His eyes stopped on his chest over his heart, where lay the clan's insignia, set off in the same silver trim. It was two wings in the shape of a heart, representing the clan's ancestry as winged beings. This insignia was sacred to his people and only the Prince of their lands was allowed to wear it. Under the silver chains holding his cloak together, Subaru could see the white collar of his shirt peeking out, the black breeches and knee-high black boots he also wore a perfect complement to his wardrobe.

Kamui was looking more Prince-like everyday, Subaru thought proudly. He needed to distinguish himself if he was to impress the Elders of the Clan.

Subaru glanced down at his own garb. He, on the other hand, didn't need to impress anyone. He was still of Noble birth, the first son of the Grand Duchess, and he was proud of his lineage, but he was still more fond of peasant colors than rich dyes. It was easier to blend in when he escaped the drudgery of the Castle and went out into the populace.

Suburu swept his fawn-colored cloak aside, exposing the more refined part of his own wardrobe that almost always lay hidden behind his cloak: a white ruffled blouse and tan trousers. The thigh-high brown leather boots were also something of a luxury.

It was a custom for twins in their country to dress similar, both for ritual and practical purposes. But he and Kamui had grown out of that phase long ago and wished to express themselves differently, even though it was frowned upon.

Twins were seen as spiritual mirrors, each exchanging and reflecting back his mystical energy to the other. Between them was a place of perfect balance and unity, and to severe that exchange or break that link was a ritual crime of the highest. It was like breaking a mirror that brought seven years bad luck. The fact that mirrors could not be utilized by the vampire clan was also one of the reasons why they held these human mirrors in such high regard. They were the only ones in the kingdom that had a reflection.

On the practical side of things, Subaru and Kamui were encouraged to dress similar because of the vampire hunters that had been sent from the human villages bordering their own nation. Their nation was a small one, encompassing a large fortress and a peasant settlement. But the humans, who outnumbered them ten to one, were still afraid. Ever since Kamui had ascended the throne as the Prince, negotiations had been in progress to subdue the anger of the human village leaders, who saw it as a threat that the vampire clan was rallying around a pure-blood. The _Adunarea_ had been calling them into their chamber more frequently to talk politics.

Their clan was dying out and every millennium or so a _Renaissance _was necessary to increase their numbers. The Renaissance was a mass slaughter of designated human villages, the descendents of the _E_ that their matriarchal line had preyed on for centuries.

The time was coming for another mass-slaughter, but Subaru was arguing against it. Kamui did not care for the humans, so he usually slept through these meeting. They were nothing but food to him, and Subaru could understand his indifference in the matter. He was being targeted by them for no other reason than he was now Prince of his people. Subaru could understand why he did not care if the slaughter happened.

It seemed war with the humans was imminent. It had been four hundred years since the last one. But though imminent, Subaru would still argue against the Renaissance. It was not that he cared terribly for the humans: their kind was territorial and kept encroaching on the royal lands. But it was that if this slaughter did take place, war would break out between the two sides, and it always took a heavy toll on their side.

The humans could reproduce, but there were only a few pure blood families in the vampire clan. They replenished their numbers now by turning humans, but the process did not always take. This was why they could only slaughter certain human villages that had lived alongside them ever since the Tower had been constructed and whose blood could mingle easily with their own.

The war between vampires and humans was a cycle of death and suffering. So why would Subaru, second in line for the throne, wish that for his Clan, or even for the humans.

"Let's go into the Forest," Kamui said as he caught up to him. He was already taking off his cloak and folding it over his arm. When they passed a servant in the hallway, Kamui smiled and tossed the bundle into her arms.

"Please don't treat the royal mantle like that," Subaru said. The purple color was a dead-giveaway that Kamui was royalty, and it was certainly bothersome and dangerous to go outside with it, but Kamui still needed to stop mismanaging his things. Though the Prince, he was still very much a child in his eyes.

The servant-girl smiled uneasily, understanding right away that Kamui wanted her to take it to their bedroom in the Tower. No one but the twins could step foot in the Tower, but like he'd said before, Kamui never cared for the rules. And Subaru had a hard time scolding his little brother. He would much rather spoil him instead.

"So, do you want to go or not?" Kamui asked. He glanced around the cobbled corridor. They had entered their wing of the Castle and the knights that protected their family lineage frequently paced these halls. They did not like Kamui going out in this time of strife, but Kamui would not be closeted away in the tower like a Princess, and Subaru could not say he blamed him.

There were large arched hollow windows that lined either side of the corridor, which was a strange design choice for vampires who could burst into flame if one ray of pure sunlight touched them, but the sunlight was very weak in their Nation, a reason why they had settled here in the first place. Gray clouds always covered the skies and they could venture outside without fear of sudden death.

Kamui stepped up on the stone ledge. He put his hands on his waist and then arched his neck back to look at Subaru. "Are you coming?"

Subaru stifled a laugh at the sight of his brother. "I never said I wasn't."

"Then c'mon." Kamui jumped off the window ledge, dropping down several hundred feet to the concrete below. He landed on all fours like a cat, and still keeping low, he scampered towards the perimeter of the Castle. Subaru followed him out, vaulting over the window and landing with a flourish of his cloak. He darted after Kamui, nimble as a rabbit, and caught up in no time. Kamui had already scaled the iron-wrought gates to the outside and was now dropping down to freedom. Subaru, still at a run, purchased a temporary toe-hold on the surface of the iron-bars and boosted himself up and over in one impressive jump… to only land in mud.

Subaru frowned down at his bad luck. He could hear Kamui laughing somewhere off in the distance, no doubt seeing him land in mud. Frowning some more—he did not like to be made fun of for his clumsiness—Subaru resumed his chase after his brother.

The market place was not far from the Castle, practically inhabiting its shadow. Tents of silk, hessian, calico and velvet lined the main path where the gypsies sold their wares and vampires came to amuse themselves in human endeavors like shopping and haggling. Subaru slowed as he entered the crowds. For discretion, he lifted his hood over his head. Further ahead in the crowd, he hoped Kamui was also using discretion.

He carefully picked his way through the crowd. It was hard to not bump into anyone: everyone was so packed together. But it was a nice feeling to be in the midst of all this activity and noise.

The scents coming from each stall were just as overwhelming. The perfumes, spices, and food-stuff made Subaru wish to buy something, but he did not want to lose sight of Kamui. If he wanted to sample, he would have to come back another day, alone. Kamui disliked this place because it was so noisy, and the only time he could stomach the market was when he had need to cut across it towards the Forest.

Lost in thought, Subaru didn't realize he was wondering closer to the stalls until a fruit vendor yelled into his ear "delicious pomegranates!" and startled him the other way.

Subaru plowed head-first into another pedestrian, hitting his nose square into his chest and nearly knocking the man over.

"Sorry," he apologized, but brusquely walked away, embarrassed that he was acting so clumsy when he was usually very coordinated. He really needed to get his head out of the clouds.

Finally reaching the end of the throng, Subaru resumed his chase. He couldn't see any trace of Kamui, but he knew his brother had come this way because of his scent.

The Forest made up the outskirts of their country, extending for hundreds of miles towards the human settlements, while the Town was located on the other side of the Castle, couched in its fortress-like structure. The gypsies and their market-place resided at the back of the Castle, towards the Forrest, unprotected but at the same time safer for all involved. It was because while the gypsies pedaled their wares to vampires, they were still foreigners, travelers from a different place, and so the townspeople threw a wary eye upon them. They were seen as distant relatives of the vampires, but the distance was now too great to welcome them into the town circle.

"Kamui!" Subaru called out as he entered the Forrest. The trees that greeted him were monstrous and knarled, with mossy green barks and sparse leaves; the barren branches clutched at the leaden sky like the old wrinkled hand of a man crying out for his lost youth.

From the outside this place looked like no Fairy tale, but the farther in one travelled, the more the landscape improved. The trees became fuller, still monstrous in size, but now it was due to their health and not their rot. The barks were brown and almost smooth. The trees at the center owed their appearance to the lake that ran through the area and fed their tucked away roots. Subaru could hear its babble as he neared. This was usually the spot where he and Kamui played, but his twin was no where in sight.

Subaru sat on a fallen log. He put his hands in his lap, waiting patiently for Kamui to show himself. He could feel eyes watching him, so he knew Kamui shouldn't be long in revealing his hiding spot.

He dusted his knees.

Anytime now.

"Brother?"

Subaru glanced around and thought Kamui was milking this situation for more than it was worth. But his twin did enjoy hide-and-seek. Should he go and find him then? Subaru could feel eyes boring into his back… ever since the market place.

Silly him, Kamui had probably doubled back and was now behind him. He was such a prankster.

Subaru smiled and swiveled his neck around, certain he would find his twin grinning at him. But what he did find was not what he expected. Subaru's smile disappeared from his face as a person in a white cloak and hood stood on the slope before him. The stranger had rested one of his hands on a tree and was gazing down at him in the grove, eating what looked like a …pomegranate?

The pores on Subaru's neck rose and he felt the sudden, irrational instinct to run. He wondered where this fear could be coming from? He was a predator himself. What need had he to run from anyone?

"Hello there," the stranger called down at him jovially and tossed away the seed of the fruit. He lifted his hood and Subaru found himself staring into the face of a smiling young man, and he was suddenly struck by his handsomeness, inexplicably struck by it, in fact. He thought there were certainly other more important things to be struck by, or noticed.

He lowered his eyes back to his hands.

"I don't mean to intrude," the stranger said, "But I just wanted to say what a lovely cloak you have."

Subaru raised his head. He pointed at himself, the hood still covering his head.

The stranger nodded. "It's like deer pelt, or perhaps something much softer and finer. A Fawn-ling perhaps? I actually mistook you for one when I was passing through."

"Oh no." Subaru shook his head. "It's not animal skin. I wouldn't be able to wear it if it was."

"It looks an awful lot like it," the stranger said with a meticulous air, like he was used to being right in these matters. "But it's quite nice if it isn't. Did you buy it in the gypsy market-place? I noticed they have many nice things over there. I'm something of a collector of beautiful objects and I've been haggling with the owner of the jewelry stall to sell me these glass beads." He took out a wrist-let from a pocket in his cloak and held it out to Subaru. Then noting the distance between them, he hoped down from the slope and onto level ground with Subaru. He held them out again. "See. They're quite pretty, but I think I was swindled," he laughed good-naturedly.

Subaru nodded. "They are pretty."

"Then would you like to trade?"

Subaru blinked at him. "Trade what?"

"This for your lovely cloak. I never walk around with money, but I do always have objects to trade for the things I want. But I wonder," he put a hand under his chin speculatively, "would you rather money?"

"I don't want your money," Subaru laughed. "But I don't want to part with my things either, especially my clothing." Then when Subaru realized what he'd just said, he blushed up to his ears. "Ah… I didn't mean to make it sound so..." He fumbled for words and then slumped in defeat when they scattered from his grasp. "Sorry," he said simply.

"Not at all," the man said, a little too up-beat about it. "I guess I seem a bit strange when I accost you for your outer-garments." He smiled at Subaru again, but the placid expression wavered a bit when he looked directly into his face, like he was only now seeing him for the first time.

"Have… we met before?"

Subaru slowly lowered his hood from his face. "No, I don't think so."

"Oh my," the man said and stared at him with something akin to surprise. He took off his glasses and put them on again. "You're even lovelier than your cloak. You don't suppose I could make the trade for you instead. I don't think I have anything like you in my collection." The smile he turned on him was still very cheerful, unnaturally so, and a sense a dread suddenly overcome Subaru. He dug his fingernails into the log underneath him.

"My brother…" Subaru said, as if the mention of his brother would make this scary feeling go away. "My brother… I'm waiting for him."

"Your brother?" the stranger asked, suddenly sympathetic, but for what reason Subaru had no idea. "Is he the boy that looks a little like you? I think I ran into him on my way in here." The stranger paced to the other side, still staring at him and smiling, and Subaru noticed that when he moved, he made no sound. There were twigs and leaves littering the ground like a dense carpet, and yet he made no sound when he walked. The woods were also strangely quiet. No rustling of deer or chirping of birds. Only this profound silence, like everything had died.

Subaru realized with a sinking feeling that he had made a fatal mistake by letting this man get this close to him.

"_SUBARU!!!"_

Subaru spun his head in the direction of the anguished sob. That had been Kamui's voice, but never in his life had he heard his brother sound so… terrified and weak.

The stranger sighed greatly. "He should have bled to death by now. I can't believe he crawled the entire way here in his condition."

"You're a Hunter," Subaru hissed and leapt back several feet. His claws extended out. "You came here to kill my brother."

"I came here to kill you both," he corrected and charged at him. One of his hands began to give off a white-yellowish light as he thrust it at Subaru like a blade, missing his chest but catching him cleanly through the shoulder. He forced him back against a tree by his injury, lifting him off the ground by the neck with his other hand and pinning him there like a butterfly.

"Uhh," Subaru groaned, as he could feel the man's hand beginning to slide from his wound, ready to make the second fatal strike. But he grabbed the arm before it could free itself from his flesh, pulling it back in and dousing his hand in blood. The Hunter looked surprised by the move, and that surprise only grew when he heard the vampire-twin begin to chant scripture:

"**For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness.**

The Hunter seemed to realize what he was about to do and he began to pull harder, trying to wrest his hand free. But Subaru was not about to let go and reaffirmed his grip by stabbing his claws through his arm.

"I didn't expect one of you to be a necromancer," the Hunter said and tightened his own grip on Subaru's neck. "It would be wise of you to not finish this curse."

"**And they shall bear the punishment of their iniquity: the punishment of the prophet shall be even as the punishment of him that seeketh unto him."**

The Hunter tightened his fingers even more in an attempt to crush his windpipe. "You are trying my patience," the man said, as he felt both his arms beginning to grow heavy and succumb to the curse being placed on it.

"**And I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns…"**

Several thorny vines crept up the tree they were pressed against and wrapped around the Hunter's offending arm, keeping it trapped against the trunk. He tsked at the predicament he had gotten himself in and then finally wretched his other hand out of Subaru, shoving the vampire to the ground so he could focus on undoing the curse.

"**And though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out thence; and though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea, thence will I command the serpent, and he shall bite them."**

The vines suddenly turned into green snakes and one struck the Hunter in the throat. He grabbed it before it could strike at him again, his hand giving off that same white-yellowish glow as he held its wriggling body in his palm. "You have nice familiars," he crushed the snake and it evaporated in a plume of black smoke, "But mine are much more polite." A white boa-sized snake lowered itself from his palm, as if its massive body had always been coiled away there. It dipped its head to the ground, warily, and Subaru froze in terror when its red eyes fixed on him. He gasped, terror taking the sound out of it, and scrambled to get away. But the wound in his shoulder and the energy needed for the caliber of curse he was summoning had taken its toll, and he couldn't escape fast enough. The snake slithered up behind him, seizing him as fast as lighting and coiling around his body so he could not use his arms or legs.

Trying to squirm free, Subaru ended up helplessly falling onto his side.

"He won't bite," the Hunter chuckled as he watched the vampire struggling to sit up, "but this is my first time wielding this type of familiar and I've heard they're known to do something far worse to virgins." He smiled when the vampire's struggling grew more frantic.

"Let's hope he wants to bite you."

"Get that thing off him, you son of a bitch." Kamui dropped down from the tree above, right behind the Hunter, and with the swiftness of an arrow flying through the air, his leg connected with the back of his neck, sending him face down in the dirt. But the Hunter had absorbed most of the shock of the impact with his hands and his leg swept out in a half-circle, his shoe connecting with Kamui's ribs. The vampire spun into the motion towards a tree, and righted himself in midair like a cat, impacting the trunk on all fours. His eyes turned into golden slits and he stared down at the Hunter from his new higher vantage point. Blood began to drip onto the forest floor below. Kamui's shirt had been ripped open at the stomach, the fringes terribly bloodied. If Subaru had been able to see the back, he would have seen the same treatment to the fabric. The Hunter had obviously gone for the quickest and easiest kill: a strike from behind. But like Subaru, he had missed the heart. Though in Kamui's case, he had felt it unnecessary to dally: he had punched a hole through his stomach and had felt that was good enough.

Kamui's healing capabilities had saved him, but it would not be enough to close the hole in his stomach, and both of them knew that. He would bleed to death if this continued.

"**And these ****words****, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart."**

"Bind," the Assassin said, wanting to shut him up. But the snake would not tighten its coils. He turned towards him with an annoyed look. "Bind," he said again and even held out his hand to better communicate his will to the familiar. But speech and gesture had failed him in the mystical sense, the final actualization of the curse upon his mouth and hands had made it so. Both of the Hunter's hands were covered with the blood of both vampire twins, which had made it easier for Subaru to summon a retribution curse on the offending "weapons." The vines had been used only because the Hunter was also a magician and to not use amplifiers would allow him to break free easily, and the snake-bite to the throat had been the final action needed to close the curse.

The Hunter frowned deeply.

"I should have dealt with you first," he said as he watched the snake uncoiling around Subaru and shriveling up. "My employers certainly had me watching out for the wrong twin."

Subaru stood up and his eyes narrowed into golden slits, matching his twin. "He no longer can use his killing strike nor any of his mantras. We'll take him down together," Subaru said somberly.

"A family undertaking then?" Kamui arched his back and suddenly exploded from the tree, sending leaves and branches flying everywhere. He swooped down right on the Hunter's back. A glint of silver announced his claws before he plunged them into the man's shoulder; he tucked his other arm under his chin, pressing it upward so his throat was exposed.

Before the Hunter could throw Kamui off, Subaru lunged at him in a flash. He stabbed the claws of one hand through his ribs and used his other hand to hold him in place as his fangs pierced his throat.

"This is what you get for stepping into vampire territory," Kamui said coolly, as he watched his twin feeding on the Hunter. The man made a strangled sound in his throat, but Kamui held him fast, not wanting to let anything interrupt the feeding process.

Subaru had never enjoyed feeding from humans. He had a strange affection for them, as one would for a puppy or any cute animal. He sympathized with them for their weakness and frailty. He thought they deserved better than to be preyed upon for sustenance. He even secretly bought blood from the butcher's shop in town in order to keep with his morals. But drinking pig's blood weakened him and it had been so long since he had gotten a taste for something human. It was no surprise that he was drinking so deeply and with such abandon.

The Hunter had stopped struggling and sank to his feet, unable to keep himself standing. Subaru sank down with him, but Kamui jumped off his back, deciding it best to give his twin the privacy he probably wanted. He looked really into it, more than Kamui thought this Hunter deserved. Subaru had wound his arms around his shoulders, squeezing him to his chest in what the humans had snidely deemed the "eternal embrace." They could only be so lucky as to be embraced by his other half for even a second.

Turning his back on the display, Kamui checked his stomach wounds. He would have to trouble Subaru later about a healing spell, but after drinking his fill, he thought his twin would be more than up to the task.

A gasp from behind made him turn around to see Subaru coughing.

"What's the matter? Did you drink too fast?" he joked.

"No, it's…" Subaru wiped his mouth, oddly self-conscious. "It's so… rich." Then his face went beet-red.

"Well, are you going to finish. You know how Karen feels about leftovers."

"No, I shouldn't. I mean, I can't," he said and stood up with some effort. He didn't seem to want to move from the body.

"You're not going to finish him?" Kamui asked incredulously. "But he's practically dead."

"He's not d-dead," Subaru said shakily. "We shouldn't kill him."

"He would have killed us," Kamui retorted. "He nearly did. He's strong. If we give him the chance, he'll try again."

"Yes, but…" Subaru lowered his eyes. "I just don't agree with your methods. Why can't we find a different way to deal with humans? To deal with this war."

"That again," Kamui sighed.

"You've been killing the hunters sent after you, but that just angers the humans."

"As it should," Kamui said in disbelief.

"But why don't we take this chance to learn something from them. We could find out who is sending these hunters after you."

"Humans."

"Yes, but specifically which village. Not all humans want to wipe us out. We could learn who is targeting us and give this information to the Elders. We could use this to negotiate with the humans."

"You're making it more complicated than it should be," Kamui argued back. "And don't you just want to keep a pet?"

"Kamui!" Subaru said sharply.

"Sorry," Kamui replied, not wanting to disrespect his older twin. "But I don't think this is such a good idea. If we bring him into the Castle with us… who knows what will happen." He could pee on the carpet, Kamui wanted to say, but kept it to himself as he knew he would just get scolded again.

"I'll watch him. Please let me do this," Subaru said and stared into his eyes. He took him by the hand. "We don't have much time. We could go to war with them at any moment. They could have hired more hunters like this in their fight against us. They could have hired them as mercenaries."

"I can't stop you," Kamui said simply and slipped his hand out of his grasp. "Do what you want, but I won't help you."

* * *

Author's notes:

_Adunarea – _means Assembly in Romanian(and if it doesn't somebody quick correct me on it because I don't speak a lick of Romanian).

Necromancy – a type of black magic that's commonly associated with raising the dead. Necromancers have a wide range of powers such as summoning demons to do their bidding; will manipulation in which they can control a human, animal or spirit; conjuring illusions; and some serious information gathering skills—they can make their demons "identify a criminal, find items, or reveal future events." They use magic circles, wands, talismans, bells, and incantations in rituals. They also use Christian prayers or biblical verses in their incantations, so this is the reason why Subaru is quoting from the Bible (info on necromancy found on wiki, the most reliable and unreliable website on the great Interweb). I thought it would be a good idea for Subaru to be a practitioner of Necromancy because for one it wouldn't make sense if he was still an Onmyoji and two Necromancy has a lot of superficial similarities with Onmyodo that I think I can get away with it. Yeah. As far as vampire Subaru chanting scripture and not instantly bursting into flame or something equally painful, I think Subaru would make a strange vampire in the first place and his "pureness" would save him. Clamp really out-did themselves with the irony when TB Subaru wanted to be veterinarian and save cute puppies and now he probably feels a dire need to eat them. Now how I'm going to explain away the very Japanese names Kamui and Subaru and have it make sense with this story, you'll just have to stick around and watch me bullshit my way through that. I can do it, I swear. I've already thought up a mighty good excuse.

And now just so I can beat you over the head with more useless information, I give you the book, chapter, and verse for the scripture Subaru was quoting:

**Isaiah 59:****3** For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness.

**Isaiah 5:****6** And I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.

**Amos 9:****3** And though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out thence; and though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea, thence will I command the serpent, and he shall bite them:

**Deuteronomy 6:****6** And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:


	2. Act 2: the Birdcage

Hesitantly, Subaru lifted the brass ring and knocked on the Church's large oak doors. When no one immediately answered, he turned around to beat a fast retreat. However, something in his heart made him pause mid-turn…

He was always so quick to drop his concerns, and Kamui had always given him a hard time about his low self-esteem. He thought this time he should listen to his twin and pursue this troubled feeling to the source. He shouldn't just sit on it until it went away.

Resolutely, Subaru lifted the brass ring and pounded away on the door.

But then again his twin had looked so…mad at him for taking the Hunter in. Maybe he should just—Subaru turned around to beat that fast retreat he had denied himself, but one of the doors creaked open before he could even take one step down. He turned around to find standing in the threshold to greet him a redhead in a crimson silk mantle. She smiled graciously at him.

"Mistress Karen," Subaru said helplessly, his face wearing a troubled expression.

"You look extra tortured today: I know I can always count on you for that. Come in before someone in the courtyard thinks I'm bulling you."

Subaru stepped out of the night only to be greeted by even more darkness. Like any vampire he could see in the dark, but he had always preferred to inhabit well-lit spaces.

The dark could be such an introspective place.

Karen noticed his discomfort and, as she walked down the aisle, the candle-stands placed at random in the room flared into existence. The candles in the inner sanctum, however, remained cold, so only a dusky glow was thrown over the area by the sacrament table. Karen practically draped herself over the sacrament table as she had a habit of doing, and Subaru took his usual seat in the first pew. He clasped his hands together.

"I think I did something that I wasn't supposed to," Subaru confessed.

"There are many things we're not supposed to do, but that's what makes it so much fun."

"Mistress, I'm being serious!" Subaru said in a high-pitched voice that echoed awfully.

"I know, that's why I'm telling you this."

"But I… drank from a man today."

"We're vampires. We can't be punished for giving into our urges. I had two men today. I got over it pretty quickly."

Subaru nodded. "I know that's our nature. I'm not saying we should not feed, but I still feel… bad about it. I not only drank from him, but I…" Subaru closed his eyes and suppressed a shudder at the memory of his fangs sinking into the Hunter's throat, "…I greatly enjoyed it. And because of that, I kept him alive when I knew better. He is now suffering in the dungeons because of my actions, even though I felt that I did not want to hurt this person." Subaru took a deep breath and clasped his hands even tighter. "I also… lied to my twin when he questioned my motives for keeping this man. I have never felt that I could not tell him anything, but I just could not tell him this. Instead I lied and told Kamui it was for the good of the Nation that I was keeping the Hunter, when I simply… wanted him."

"Jesus, you did all this in one day." When the tortured expression made a second appearance, Karen smiled sympathetically at the younger vampire. She rose from her sprawl and came to stand before him, her face taking on the forgiving visage of the Mother Mary statue near the entrance. She cupped his cheek in a loving palm.

Karen had known the twins ever since they were babies. She had been one of the caretakers before the mother and father's death. But the old guard had a way of being replaced around these parts, and everyone who had served the old regime had been quickly sent out of the Castle to eke out their own living.

The _Adunarea _was strict about the twins' associations, and the bohemian Karen was not on their lists of inspirational mentor figures. A vampire who kept a church in town and read from Scripture everyday was unusual, but she had come to possess a tolerance to holy objects from her mother, and her mother had learned it from her mother before that, and so on down the lines. It was the inheritance of her clan, to be a missionary of the word. But Karen was not good at moving on, so she had stayed on to be a priest of her own church. It was a lonely job, as the vampires in town rarely stepped into these hallowed walls. Some came to seek out her advice in the streets, but that was as far as her mission had gone.

Subaru had been something of a god-send when he had been born—the first son of the Grand Duchess, a child of the darkness and at the same time very much existing in the world of the light.

After he had come of age he had sought her out for information on his parents, a loving child through and through, and had unknowingly stepped into her Church. There was no stained glass nor any cross on the façade announcing that this was a holy site, as it would be painful to the vampires looking from the outside, and Subaru had entered, completely oblivious, completely innocent, but willing to learn about his parents and about other things.

He was a willing vessel for knowledge. It was one of the reasons why he had kept coming back, even after he had learned all about his parents and the circumstances surrounding their death, or what Karen could piece together of it to tell him.

He was also coming to her out of a need to protect. There was talk that his younger twin was a candidate to ascend the throne, and Subaru felt he needed to become stronger if he were to protect his younger brother from the dangers that came with appointment.

Karen had taught him all that she knew about necromancy and about her inheritance. Subaru was an apt pupil and had gone onto to learn everything there was to learn until she could teach him no more. Then he took over his own education, mastering techniques that she had only read about. She'd had mixed feelings when Subaru had gone onto surpass her. She was proud of his mastery but at the same time she was sad that she could no longer guide him.

But his mastery had not meant their relationship was over and she was surprised at the frequency of his visits to her Church, which at this time was now a second home to him. She had even joked to him about it, saying she was going to be reduced to mistress if he kept taking up all of God's time.

Despite her feeding, Karen had promised herself to God, so she knew she would have no children. Many of the other purebreds had looked down on her for that, as it was her duty as a female and a pureblood to further the race, but she would not consent to one of their arranged marriages. She could only follow the one she loved, and that one was currently the Lord God Savior.

But when Subaru had entered her church, she had not realized she was missing something from her life until he had told her in that terribly earnest way he had that he didn't know what it was like to feel the love of a mother, but if the relationship they shared was anything like that, then he would have died long ago for want of it.

Those pure words made her feel extremely loved, and even through the loneliness of her calling, and the pain that her surroundings could sometimes inflict upon her (right after a kill the church would reject her and act as her own personal instrument for carrying out self-flagellation and penance), she still could not leave this place and find better pastures to graze. She would protect the place where Subaru lived and continue to act out her role as his foster-mother, doling out advice, chastisement, and forgiveness.

"**And the ****priest**** shall ****dip**** his ****finger**** in the blood, and ****sprinkle**** of the blood ****seven ****times**** before**** the ****L****ORD****, ****before**** the ****veil**** of the ****sanctuary****."**

"Ours is a lot that feeds on humans to live, but like the humans that feed on the calf, we must feed on them. It's not mal-content or evilness that makes us this way: it's a desire to live. Take that with you and go back to this man and wait on him. I would have advised a fast merciful death, but if you can't raise your hand against him, then make him as comfortable as you possibly can until he can be judged by the _Adunarea_."

"I will," Subaru said, standing up, rejuvenated in body and purpose. "I wasn't sure if I should follow my heart in this matter. I'm putting my brother at jeopardy, not to mention every other vampire in the Castle; and I don't want to hurt anyone. I don't want anyone to be hurt by my choice."

Karen turned her back on him, lowering her eyes to her own hands. "But that's the thing—not everyone can be made happy by our choices. Some must remain unhappy in order for others to gain happiness. Happiness does not come without a price, and we must bear the price if we want to be happy."

* * *

Subaru crept back into Castle right before dawn. Kamui was still sleeping off his injury and would not seek him out until the next night-fall, which gave Subaru ample time to sneak down into the dungeons.

He did not want to go behind his twin's back in order to fulfill his heart's wish. He wanted to be able to tell him upfront how he felt, but it was too late to ask for forgiveness. He had brought the Hunter into the Castle and now the only thing he could do was go after the reason his heart could not bare to be parted from this strange man.

"How is… he feeling?" Subaru asked the knight guarding the cell.

"There has been no movement from him yet, your highness."

Subaru had taken the royal mantle from among his brother's things and was now wearing it under a guise of deception. He knew if he pretended to be Kamui it would be easier to gain access to the prisoner, so he swallowed his guilt, straightened his back, and played the part. "None at all? Well…that's good. Stupid human deserves what he gets."

"If I may speak out of turn, your highness. We can take him off your hands. The rest of the Guard see no reason to keep one worthless human alive. We could get rid of him before the _Adunarea_ learns of this and puts him on trial."

"Oh no I could never!" Subaru cried but stopped himself from further exclamations when the knight gave him a weird look. "I mean, no, that will not do. I want him alive so…I can torture him slowly." Subaru blinked at his own words, as he was certain not even his brother would utter such things. He was being a bit unfair in his interpretation, but the knight seemed to favor this "Kamui's" actions and he began to open the cell.

"I would like to have some time alone with him," Subaru said.

"Certainly, your highness." The knight bowed and retreated down the long hallway that would take him to the upper levels of the dungeons, leaving Subaru and the Hunter completely alone.

Taking a deep breath, Subaru hurried towards the empty cell near the exit and pushed the gate open. It swung open easily, and he stooped down to retrieve the food tray he had stashed upon his entrance. Rats scurried away when he picked it up, and he raised the lid to check if they'd gotten to anything in the short time he'd set it down.

Satisfied that the food was untouched, he proceeded to the Hunter's cell. He pushed the gate open and stepped in, resting the tray down. Then he locked the gate behind him and hid the key in the royal mantle, which he shed almost immediately and folded. He tucked it away in one of the corners of the cell.

Subaru picked the tray back up and began to slowly approach the Hunter's bed. Tentatively he sat down next to his elbow, the tray balanced in his lap. There was a bowl of water and a wash-cloth among the tray, and Subaru picked up the washcloth, eyeing the bloody fang bites on his throat. He swallowed, his mouth suddenly going dry, and to distract himself he pulled off one of his white gloves. He touched a bare finger to the neck of the Hunter's white cloak, tugging it back as he raised his other hand to clean the wounds.

A hand suddenly shot out and clamped around Subaru's throat, wresting him violently to the side. Before the tray could even clatter to the floor, he was forced down in place of where the Hunter had been lying, the man staring down at him with an impassive expression on his face as he choked him.

Subaru gasped and struggled; his hand dropped the washcloth, clutching at the arm pinning him. He scratched at it helplessly, heaving.

The Hunter seemed to take notice of the washcloth and the other amenities scattered on the floor. But his hold on Subaru did not loosen any, as he held the vampire down while he trashed.

"You're certainly the kindest individual I've ever had the pleasure of hunting. But I wonder… which is your true face?" the Hunter mused. He dragged Subaru out of the bed, still struggling, and fitted his hand over his mouth. "Is it the face you showed me when you thought I was a simple treasure-hunter?" He leaned over his shoulder, whispering in his ear: "or is it the face you wore when you tried to tear out my throat?"

"Mmph," Subaru struggled.

"I suppose we'll have some time to find out. Now," he began cheerfully, "where is the key to let me out? I'm not that keen on spending another moment in enemy territory." The Hunter felt around in Subaru's pockets deftly with his free hand. "Hmm, not here it seems." He eyed the thigh-high boots Subaru was wearing, catching the fastener for one and plucking it open.

Subaru whimpered.

"There's no need to be scared for your virtue. I'm just checking," he assured in a soothing voice. He made fast work of his second boot and then gazed around the cell. He spotted the royal mantle in the corner and headed for it, dragging Subaru along. Nudging at the fabric with his shoe, the key fell out of the folds and unto the floor. He smiled.

"Ah, would you be a dear and pick that up for me. My back's not what it used to be these days."

Subaru was shoved downward. He shakily picked up the key and handed it to the man at his back.

"Thank you," the Hunter said, full of gratitude before he grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and hauled him up again. He grabbed Subaru's hand, the one divested of the glove, and with his other hand he began to trace a pattern onto the back of it. An inverted pentagram glowed on Subaru's skin before it went out like a shooting star.

"So we'll meet again," the Hunter clarified with a cheerful tone. "But don't worry; because I only marked one of your hands it's temporary. I won't keep you waiting… Subaru-kun, is it?" The Hunter chuckled. "Is that what the humans are calling you? After the seven maiden star-cluster. Well, I've returned one star to you."

He lifted his hand to his lips, placing a tender kiss on his mark; then as if the gentle gesture had belonged to someone entirely else, the Hunter tightened his hold on his hand and flung him away like a flower whose petals had been all plucked out.

Subaru hit the wall and slid to the floor. The gate clanged behind the Hunter and Subaru heard him locking it. Through the bars he jangled the keys playfully at the vampire. "It would be nice if you waited here for me until my return, but I'm not that optimistic." He dropped the keys on the floor, right in front of the gate but also just out of reach, so Subaru would have to strain against the bars if he even wanted to graze it with his fingertips. The cheerful smile he turned on him looked nothing but cruel now. "Let's keep this between us, shall we? I promise not to go after your twin if you promise to give me all your attention from now on." And with that he was gone.

Subaru dropped his face in his hands and restrained the sob in his throat.

_What had he done?_

* * *

A mysterious figure in an olive-green cloak stood atop one of the tallest trees of the Forest. The wind began to pick up, battering the cloak steadily, and as if sensing a disturbance in the air, the figure turned his head in the direction of the Castle. The cloaked being leapt onto the branch of a shorter tree and gazed down at the forest floor right at the moment that a white flitter darted by—so fast that anyone would have mistaken it for the silvery edge of a leaf as it spun down from the ashen trees of this Forest. But the figure knew better, knowing this particular flitter of a man since childhood.

"Nii-san, where are you going in such a rush?"

The Hunter halted dead in his tracks and stared up at the tree branch above him. He dropped his hood and smiled. "Fuuma, what brings you by this side of the Forest? You know big brother is in the middle of a job right now. He has no time to play. Plus it's not very safe here," he lectured in a brotherly tone, or what they both supposed a brother would sound like.

"Job? If it was a job I would think you would have been finished by now." Fuuma jumped down from the tree and settled next to his brother. "It seems you found something of value in that vampire castle. A treasure perhaps? That's not very nice of you, nii-san: to not share your things. Mother and Father are rolling over in their graves right now."

"Let's hope so," the Hunter said, and patted his little brother on the head in a curt fashion. Fuuma was a bit taller than him, so it was somewhat strange to watch him pat him on the head like a preschooler. He was also slightly broader in the shoulders. Even though he was in his early teens, his little brother was fast becoming the larger of the two, and from his bone structure he would guess that his little brother would only continue to grow.

"Ah but big brother can't share all his toys with you," the Hunter said. "That would only spoil you."

Fuuma dropped his hood and turned a knowing smile on his brother. "Your employers are becoming strangely anxious. They sent me to keep an eye on you," he said in a serious tone, done with their sibling games.

"They are rather annoying," the Hunter said tiresomely. "But you should really know better than to interrupt my work, Fuuma. I might accidentally kill you if you get in my way."

Fuuma smiled. "The same might happen to you if you're not careful, nii-san. That Castle isn't only yours to pillage. Legend says that in every Vampire Palace a mountain of treasure lies for anyone fool-hardy enough to enter. I'm particularly interested in the Munich-handbook on Necromancy."

The Hunter turned to look at Fuuma. "Necromancy? How do you know they have a text like that in there?"

"Our employers, of course. They said I might find it in one of the family tombs."

"Hmph," the Hunter said, narrowing his eyes. "They certainly could have given me fair warning when I was attacked by one of those necromancers. I didn't think any vampire could practice necromancy."

"They said only a certain clan can practice it." Then Fuuma rested his elbow on his brother's shoulder in a gesture of sibling confidence. "You wouldn't happen to know where I could find one of these practitioners, nii-san? It would help me greatly in locating the book."

"I will, for a price," the Hunter said shrewdly. "If our employers have sent you here then I'm obliged to use you. I have to go back to the village for supplies anyway, but I would like you to stay here and keep a watch on things for me, especially the unwelcomed element of my job—his royal highness."

Fuuma's elbow dropped from his brother's shoulder. "You wouldn't be talking about the crown-jewels of the vampire clan himself, now would you? If you give me such a dangerous job I might start thinking you don't like me. You know why our village calls him Kamui?"

The Hunter shrugged. He had heard the tales before, but he had not really been that interested.

"Because he's a monster that lures humans out of their homes by transforming into the one thing they desire, and then when they've followed him back to his Castle, he devours them whole. They say he only goes after virgins," Fuuma said with a disconcerting smile.

The Hunter sighed. "I see you still read story-books and think they're real. Well, whatever. Just keep him busy. I'm not exactly fond of his butting in." The Hunter spun on his heel, throwing his mantle over himself. "Divide and conquer, just like big brother taught you."

"Yes, but what exactly will I be keeping him from butting in on?"

"I'll tell you when you're older."

* * *

**A/n: **I was kind of bummed when I'd learned that Kamui was the twin and not Hokuto, but I think it worked itself out. I like that Subaru is now the older twin. Hokuto had always looked after and protected him, even at the cost of her own life, so I wanted to have Subaru be that for Kamui in this story, even if it was for a short amount of time.

**Leviticus 4:****6** **And the ****priest**** shall ****dip**** his ****finger**** in the blood, and ****sprinkle**** of the blood ****seven**** times ****before**** the ****LORD****, ****before**** the ****veil**** of the ****sanctuary****.** The church scene was kind of inspired by the pic of vampireSubaru in a room full of candles. Can't give you a direct link to it, but it's currently on my profile page--don't know how long that will last tho. There's another pic of Seishirou in a pope-hat and Subaru bowing before him, but I can't find it anywhere. It's kind of hilarious so I wanted to share, but you guys probably know what I'm talking about…I think. Oh, and Karen had to make her entrance here because I could not write a church scene and not have her in it, the sexy thing. Wow, how inappropriate since she's like a nun now:)

**Munich Manual of Demonic Magic **is a fifteenth century grimoire manuscript. The text, composed in Latin, is largely concerned with Demonology and Necromancy.

**Subaru **is named after the Pleiades star-cluster, which is a group of seven sister stars. His name can mean "to govern" "unite" or "gather together."

**Kenash Unarabe** is an Ainu _kamui_ (_god_). She is a blood-drinking monster who preys upon hunters. Kenash Unarabe is said to have emerged from the decomposing tools the gods had used in their making of the earth. She is a monster with a thirst for human blood, and a sister to various poisons and diseases. She often takes on the appearance of Hash-Inau-uk Kamui, the goddess of the hunt, in order to deceive hunters. She employs this trick to lead a hunter deep into a swamp; when he tires, she turns on him, killing him and drinking his blood.

I had this AU Kamui based loosely on the myth of the Kenash Unarabe. Since the Kenash Unarabe is basically a kamui (god), Fuuma and the rest of the humans call him that for short. Anyway, I'll leave the rest of the explanation for the next chapter, so I hope you stay tuned.


	3. Act 3: Courtship

Kamui yawned loudly, the representative from 'who-honestly-cares' cleared his throat and stood from his kneel in front of his throne, seeing that he would possibly have more luck persuading the Adunarea in his endeavors than he would with the reigning prince—nor did Kamui stop the man from excusing himself from his circle of even more boring people, but only wished he could excuse himself along with the fast-retreating diplomat.

Resting his chin in his hand, Kamui yawned again.

Why did every ambassador that came to the vampire kingdom have plans for them? They could govern themselves, had done so for hundreds of years, even before the humans had arrived.

Kamui was always up for suggestions on how to improve the living conditions for his people, even on how to improve their relationship with the humans to avoid the war, but he was not up for hour-long snore-sessions that contributed nothing in the way of solutions.

"Up next is the Ambassador's protege from the Kingdom of Nippon of the Esa Tribe. He is quite brave for coming here without an escort. We would like to reward his bravery by allowing him into your throne room to—"

"Enough," Kamui said. He turned to look at the adviser who had been speaking. "And where's the Ambassador? Why send his helper here?"

"I believe the Ambassador was attacked upon leaving our border by a group of our citizens."

Kamui put a hand over his eyes, shaking his head…. No wonder they had sent an understudy. No real ambassador wanted to step foot in this kingdom after such a blatant attack, and he certainly did not blame them.

The Esa tribes were practically seen as a food source and a way to continue their own lines. It was tradition to slaughter them. Kamui did not believe in blindly following tradition, but he had tasted Esa blood before, and, compared to the other tribes of the Nippon Kingdom, it was especially sweet.

Though the history of the Esa was rather stale in comparison:

They had migrated along with the rest of the tribes of Nippon after they had been driven from their land of origin by an unknown power. In Kamui's experience, 'unknown power' usually meant war, famine, or pestilence. The textbooks always read unknown power for some reason. He supposed no one had ever gone back to the East to ascertain what had made these people abandon their home for a more western land-front a hundred years ago.

Not that it should matter anymore, but it was just a thought brought about by much thinking. As Prince, he did that a lot.

Too bad he was currently surrounded by people that did the opposite.

"Send him away before the same thing happens to him," Kamui commanded, feeling that it should be obvious to everyone concerned why this meeting should not happen.

"Ah, your highness, but he is right outside the throne room, and he insists he will not leave until he has an audience with you."

Kamui rolled his eyes at the human who wanted to walk willingly into a den of vampires.

"Fine. Let him come in." Apparently some of these Esa tribesmen had no survival instinct. See if he cared if he got eaten along the way.

One of his advisors ran forward to formally introduce the human as he entered the infamous throne room of the vampire nobility.

"Presenting the Ambassador's protege from the Esa tribe of the Nippon Kingdom: Fuuma Monou-kun."

A tall boy in a green cloak stopped in front of his throne. In addition to wearing said cloak, he was also donning the most carefree smile that Kamui had ever had the displeasure of witnessing on a young human male.

The vampire prince frowned at the expression.

"_What are you smiling at?"_

"Highness," one of those annoying advisers interrupted nervously. They had been quick about it too, obviously distressed by his choice of first words.

"Sorry if I came off as disrespectful, but I'm just glad that you would see me." The young man placed a hand over his heart, bowing deeply from the midsection. "I'm a big fan of yours."

Kamui raised an eyebrow, not sure of the vernacular being used, but ignoring it all the same in the sense of moving on. "State your business and leave. In the interest of not encouraging more bloodshed between our clans, I think it would be best if you just left right now."

"But I'm here to talk about negotiations," the boy said, giving him another one of those blithe and care-free smiles. "Considering how badly things are right now between our clans, shouldn't we make more time for each other. At least give me a day, Kamui-oujisama."

"You have one minute."

The silent throne room went even more silent, the advisors, noblemen, and other ambassadors holding their breaths as they waited for the young man's reply. They were, however, surprised and a bit annoyed when the young man put a hand to the back of his neck and began to laugh, the light-hearted sound completely out of place in such a tense atmosphere.

"You're as hard to handle as they say, Kamui-oujisama. I feel a little out of my element here." The boy laughed again, but despite his words of defeat, he did not move an inch from his spot in front of Kamui's throne.

Kamui's frown deepened.

On noticing the highness's darkening mood, one of the advisers cleared his throat and stepped towards—in front of more like it—the young human male. If he continued to refuse to leave then nothing much could be done. Of course they could always have the knights forcefully remove him, but, in matters of politics, hospitality more than brutality should be consulted, and usually the best way to propose hospitality, would be to show the young man the prided estate of the vampire twins. The Prince certainly looked restless, so it would do him some good to walk around.

"Don't you want to show him around, your highness?"

"No," Kamui said bluntly.

"But certainly it would be a nice change of pace—"

"I said no," Kamui repeated.

"It's alright," the young human interrupted, "we can talk here. But that's odd…" He began to look around the throne room, appearing to search for someone. "I'd always heard that Kamui-oujisama had a twin—a rarity among vampires if I remember correctly. Mind if I see the other one?"

"_Why?"_ Kamui said, the hostility in his voice now evident. "He looks exactly like me. What's there to see?"

"I was just making conversation," he replied.

"Then go make conversation elsewhere," Kamui said.

"He's usually not like this," the adviser provided, feeling a need to excuse the Prince's behavior.

"I'm always like this," Kamui retorted moodily before standing up out of his throne. He brushed past the human in one fluid motion and made for the doors, and throwing them open, he strode out into the hallway without a last glance at his embarrassed advisers.

After he had put a good bit of distance between himself and the throne room, Kamui stopped in front of a window, deciding he had better things to do than wait around in the castle for ambassadors and assassins alike to find him.

When he'd woken up that night, all groggy and still aching all over, the news of that hunter's escape had been the first words out of his brother's mouth. It was annoying to wake up to that kind of greeting, especially after the _great_ day they'd both had yesterday, but if there was anything that he had learned from life, it was that bad news usually traveled in packs.

He was not surprised that something had gone wrong in the detainment of the hunter. He'd already given his twin fair warning on the matter.

Kamui had wanted to say 'I told you so' or make some other immature quip at his sibling, but Subaru had looked so utterly miserable that night that Kamui could not help but try his best to console him.

All his attempts at consolation had failed, however, and Subaru had ended up crawling into his bed and pulling the covers over his head, his way of saying 'to give him some space.'

Kamui had yearned to stay by his side, but he could tell something about his presence was troubling his twin, and with forlorn expression in tow, he left his brother in the Tower and journeyed down into the dungeons, intent on questioning the guard on what had happened and also intent to distract himself from his own dejection over being pushed away.

But the vampire guard had nothing to offer in the way of an explanation, for he could not recall the events that had taken place during daybreak, nor the reason why he would even leave the hunter's cell unattended.

Kamui thought that his memory loss was the typical result of a manipulation spell.

The hunter had been a magic-user, after all, so he must have somehow gotten through to his guard… though how exactly remained a mystery, since said guard had been forewarned about his prisoner's abilities.

They were vampires, so they were well-versed in the arts of mind-control. The knights might not be able to use it effectively, but they should be able to guard against it from a human.

Something wasn't adding up, but Kamui could not bring himself to care about how it had happened in the end. All he needed to know was that the bastard was out there and he would slit his throat the next time he saw him, no matter how much Subaru begged him not to.

Kamui stepped up on the window-sill, ready to drop down to the ground below and start the hunt for the hunter, but a hand out of nowhere grabbed his arm, forestalling him. Instantly he jerked back to find the one connected to that hand was none other than the annoying Esa boy.

"Is it okay for you to jump from that distance?"

Kamui stared at him as if he were retarded.

"When you see someone jumping out a window, shouldn't your first reaction be to stop them?" Still holding onto his arm, he gently drew him down from the windowsill. When Kamui's feet touched the ground, he instantly remembered himself and yanked his arm out from his grasp.

"I'll land on my feet," Kamui replied brusquely.

"You always land on your feet?" he asked, sounding annoyingly impressed by something that should be common knowledge. "Are vampires part cat?"

Kamui eyed the Esa, trying to figure out what he wanted with him. For some reason he hadn't sensed his presence until he had grabbed his arm.

He walked like an… assassin.

This bastard… Had the humans_ already_ sent another hunter to replace the one that had failed? If that were the case, they were really too brazen—these humans.

But it was just… so convenient—sending such a thing to him the day after and then thinking he would not pick up on it. Was he over-thinking this?

Whatever the case may be, this human boy was not to be trusted. There was certainly something not right about him.

Kamui narrowed his eyes. "Why are you following me?"

"I wanted to talk. We look about the same age, so I thought we could be friends."

"We're not the same age," Kamui said sternly, thinking either he was playing around or he really had no idea about vampires. If it was the latter, then he was really a poor substitute for the ambassador, which made him look even more suspicious. "Outwardly…vampires age slower."

The Esa smiled at his stilted explanation. "There's so many things I don't know about your kind. If we were friends, I know that would change." He stepped towards him and Kamui could not help but take a step back towards the wall. The size difference was suddenly making itself apparent. "So is there anything else about vampires that I should know before I try to become your friend?"

"We like to drink human blood." Hopefully that would get him to back off and remember his place on the food-chain.

"How does it taste?"

Kamui gave him a strange look. "You… want me to tell you how human blood tastes?"

"Is it bitter? Sour? Sweet?"

"…"

No one had ever asked him that question before, but that was because the only people he knew were vampires, and they already knew how blood tasted. Though there was really no concrete answer for this question, since the taste of blood depended on many different factors, such as the overall health of the human and even their spiritual essence.

Blood tasted differently for every vampire because every human they sucked it out of was different. And that was as far as Kamui wanted to go in giving humans a compliment.

"It depends," he replied slowly.

"Depends on what?"

"On the human," Kamui said a little louder than he wanted to.

"So it's like trying different flavors of ice-cream."

"Ice-cream?" Kamui asked, confounded on multiple levels now.

The Esa nodded his head. "It's sweet and comes in different flavors, like vanilla and strawberry and chocolate…"

Kamui still had no idea what he was talking about.

"So how do you think I would taste?" the boy asked.

"Utterly stupid," Kamui said, and tried to go around him, tired of having to answer inane questions. Assassin or not, he felt the overwhelming need to get away from this troublesome guy.

"I bet you'd want to be my best friend after I gave you a sample."

Kamui came to a stop and stared up at this human, stunned silent despite himself.

* * *

Subaru walked out of the wash-room, still wet from his bath, and sat down on the edge of the bed he shared with his twin. He had just scoured his skin with a brittle scrub-brush—a self-flagellation rite he would use after he felt too dirty to face the world.

He'd known about Karen's regiment of punishing herself after meals, even though she'd tried to hide this part of her devotion from him. The redhead had once laughed at him when he'd called her a martyr and a saint, saying in that off-hand way she had that saints didn't go around eating people, but Karen was always too quick to put herself down.

He didn't like the idea of her hurting herself, and it made him sad that she felt this was necessary to attain forgiveness, but there was another part of him—a secret part—that could completely empathize with her overwhelming need for forgiveness, and the extreme measures she went about trying to attain that forgiveness.

As his mentor, he felt her actions were noble and worth imitating. Of course he had never said a peep about his practicing austerities to Karen or Kamui, as they would most likely force him to stop and yell at him the entire way through as they made him stop.

But it was discipline—discipline for both his body and his heart. It would make him stronger as a person and a brother.

Subaru gently touched the skin of his arm, watching the redness and irritation fade away as if it had never been there in the first place, and he suddenly clutched his arm to his chest, feeling hot tears sting his eyes.

His healing capabilities made the entire practice an exercise in futility, however. It hurt him that he could not even punish himself properly with the body he'd been given. If anything it made him feel even more wretched…

Why could he do nothing right?

Scour however much he did, he could never remove the stain of guilt from his previous actions: feeding on that hunter—worse, enjoying it--, lying to Kamui about his intentions for keeping the man alive, then lying again to Kamui about his whereabouts when the hunter had escaped… always lying. Subaru put his head in his hands. Why had he lied to Kamui? Why hadn't he told him the truth?!

Ever since yesterday, it felt like someone else was living inside his head, making him say and do things that normally he could not even bring himself to think about. He felt…possessed.

And that poor guard! After he had found him in the cell, Subaru had looked deeply into his eyes and put him under his thrall, all so he could open the gate for him. Then when he had done what Subaru had wanted, he erased his memory, so no would find out the truth.

Subaru had always warned Kamui about abusing this particular power of their blood-line. They should never use it on anyone because it was violation of their free will, and yet that morning, he had used it like a hypocrite.

He was nothing more than a…

Subaru slowly raised his head from his hands and stared across the room towards the balcony.

"…"

Slowly rising from his bed, Subaru began to walk towards the balcony, dragging one of the silk sheets along to cover himself.

A… noise was coming from outside, and it was only growing louder.

Wondering what could possibly make it up the Tower bringing that much noise, Subaru carefully stepped out into the balcony.

A cold wind blasted him, but he held onto his covering and leaned over the stone barrier. He couldn't make out anything unusual through the fog. The noise had also died down, replaced by the howling of the wind, and Subaru had to wonder if it had just been his imagination.

But he swore he had heard…flapping.

A large shadow suddenly passed over Subaru, and the vampire looked up in time to see an equally large hawk flying by overhead, the hunter holding on precariously to one of its massive taloned-legs and looking none too troubled over this.

Despite himself Subaru's eyes widened.

The hawk had begun to descend towards him, the wind around the balcony picking up terribly with each flap of its massive wings. It suddenly cried down angrily at him, and startled out of his wits, Subaru nearly lost the tentative hold on the sheet around him altogether.

_Oh god…_

* * *

"Do you really want me to bite you?" Kamui said, not liking one bit how lightly this Fuuma boy was throwing around the topic of feeding with him. "Once I sink my teeth into someone I don't let go."

Fuuma smirked. "That's convenient for both of us then, because I don't either."

Kamui stared at him carefully. "Do you have a death wish?"

He shook his head. "Not at all, but to attain treasure one must always accept the risk that comes along with searching it out." He touched a hand to Kamui's chin, tilting his head up. "I've heard you'll grant the heart's wish to anyone who can survive your…kiss." It was a kiss with bite, but only the good ones ever had.

"You humans like to make up these stories to demonize my brother and me."

"Demonize?" he said, acting confused. "I've only ever been interested in the tales of your beauty and strength. My parents used to tuck me in to those stories at night."

Kamui was well-aware of all the bed-time stories the humans would tell their children pertaining to Subaru and himself. He had also heard legends like the one this boy was recounting that spoke of them like holy grails, able to grant the deepest desire of anyone that could face them and live.

The humans were strange creatures, for as much as they tried to drive the fear of vampire-kind into their children, among the adults they spoke of them as fetishes—as beings that could satisfy them in every possible way their minds could think up. And as the so-called representatives of vampire-kind, he and Subaru had so many of these fantasies directed at them that it was a mystery in itself that Subaru had grown up completely innocent of these tales.

The humans feared them, they wanted them, they could not make up their minds about them—but between their fear and desire, many humans still walked over to their side of the Forest, ready to give themselves over to the vampire princes that were said to play within the dark woods.

Kamui usually took naps in the large tree at the entrance of their territory—both for the peace of mind and the strategic position. He usually ran into humans out there wanting his bite for all the wrong reasons, and he would not lie, he always fed off them in that instant. All those who had ever come to him with such intentions, he killed in order to discourage the other villagers from trespassing. But the humans did not seem to understand that as they hunted animals off their land, vampires hunted humans that wondered into theirs. If they kept to their lands they would be safe, but they willingly chose not to listen to reason, and Kamui would not deny himself from feeding in his territory. Because of this, his bloody exploits in the Forest had gained him the name Kamui.

The naming ceremony that would have taken place after his and Subaru's birth had been replaced with the funeral for his parents, leaving he and his twin nameless for the greater part of a decade.

Of course being of royalty had guaranteed them titles that everyone in the castle were forced to use, and Kamui had even turned down the Adunarea's offers to give him a name. He had felt pride in his namelessness: there was nothing to distinguish he and his twin. They were the same in every way. He had thought that Subaru had wanted that as well, until one day his twin had called out to him with a name he had overheard the human ambassadors using to refer to the Prince. It was obviously an insult to him, recognizing the myth the humans would tie it with, but Subaru had felt it meant something beautiful and noble, and so he took to calling him Kamui from then on.

Subaru had wanted a human name as well—something about the language they used had felt familiar and right to him. The Adunarea, however, had been the ones to provide the name Subaru. They could speak the human tongue fluently, and, at the time, he and Subaru were just learning the foreign language.

But now Kamui wished he could not speak the human language as well as he did. At least he wouldn't be able to understand that this human was trying to get under his skin… and possibly under his clothes as well.

He was, however, a decade too early for him to even consider snacking on. He might have started to physically mature at a young age, but Kamui could still smell the undeveloped quality to his blood.

"So what do you say?" Fuuma asked. "Should we get to know each other over _dinner_?"

"Go back to your parents before I throw you out the nearest window."

Fuuma laughed at his threat like he had told him a joke instead. "You might actually be helping me to see them if you did that."

Kamui stopped what he was about to say. He blinked in realization.

_Oh. _

"I'm… sorry," Kamui said under his breath, feeling suddenly that he had crossed a line. No matter if it was a vampire or a human, losing someone was always going to feel the same, especially when it came to losing your parents.

Reading remorse in his silence, Fuuma smiled. "It was a long time ago. Plus I have an older brother. He's taken very good care of me."

Kamui lowered his eyes.

He could relate to that.

"You're actually a very kind person, aren't you?" Fuuma said, still smiling. "We're actually very compatible that way. It'll make it easier for us to be friends, don't you think?"

Kamui raised his head and opened his mouth to dissuade him of that thought, but loud footsteps echoing down the hallway made him turn around in time to see a guard running towards him, the vampire looking completely out of breath.

"What is it?" Kamui asked, alerted by the distress reflected in the guard's face.

"Your highness," he gasped, "there's a… hawk circling the Tower."

Kamui continued to stare at the guard, waiting for him to give him the real message. If that was the caliber of his emergency then he would have to start questioning the proficiency of the guard-detail around here, especially after they had let that Hunter escape.

"It's… a… rather_ big_ hawk, your highness," the guard said slowly. He had glanced at Fuuma, as if he did not want to talk about this in front of the human.

"How big?" Kamui asked. This was really becoming tiresome.

"It's… smashed through the stone pass that connects the Tower to the Castle, and is now attacking the knights that try to jump across. We've been cut off from Babylon Tower, sir."

"…what?" Kamui said hoarsely. "What do you mean we've been cut off? Subaru's still sleeping in there!" Suddenly turning away from the guard, Kamui began to sprint down the hallway towards the west wing of the Castle. He could suddenly hear footsteps following closely behind him, and he glanced back to see the human boy keeping up—how he was even able to do that a mystery.

"Stop following me!" This was no time for games. He could not be expected to babysit a human right now.

"You look like you could use my help, and by the looks of that thing, I wouldn't turn me down just yet."

Slowing down to a stop, Kamui turned around to find the human staring out one of the large arched hallway windows. He made a motion towards the window next to him. "See for yourself."

Unnerved by his words but more than willing to see what he would be up against, Kamui quickly looked out the window. Off in the distance, two-thirds of the way up the Tower, where the dust had yet to settle from the destroyed bridge, a hawk the size of a house had perched itself on what remained of the bridge and was cawing violently at the opposite side where the knights were positioned.

"How?" Kamui gasped. "How is he able to call up such… monsters?"

"Your problem guest wouldn't happen to be a hunter, would he?" Fuuma asked. "We have many in our village, but only a few are that high-level where they can summon familiars, though I've never seen one that large before. It looks like borrowed pow—"

Kamui grabbed Fuuma by the neck of his cloak. "How do you know it's a hunter?"

"Because I grew up in a village full of them," Fuuma said simply. "Didn't you know that hunters are originally from the Esa clan? I thought you would know that."

Kamui tightened his grip. "Are you one of them?"

"Me? No, but I have the basic skills to be one. That's why a boy like me was able to be the ambassador's aid. I was really serving the role as his guard, though that didn't pan out too well," he laughed.

Kamui let him go, and then pushed him out of his way.

"I could help," Fuuma called at his back. "I really don't think you can take this hunter down by yourself."

Kamui turned back around to face him. "You would…help me?"

"Because I know these hunter types," Fuuma explained. "They're persistent, but worse they like to play games with people they like. They're dreadful people, you know."

The image of his twin bound by that snake came back to him unbidden. When he had dropped down on that hunter, the man had seemed more interested in doing other things to Subaru than his job. It had not been a normal assassination attempt at all. "They're sick is what they are," Kamui concluded.

"I wouldn't go so far, but they can be a handful and my services are currently open."

As much as it pained Kamui to admit this, he could not handle this hunter by himself. He would need the help of someone, and this Fuuma person was the only one around who knew about these assassins.

"What do you want in return?" Kamui asked, not even trying to hide the urgency in his voice.

"There's a book I'm searching for, and I've been told that your clan is the holder. You might have heard of it—the Munich Handbook on Necromancy."

Necromancy? He knew for a fact that it was his brother's area of expertise. He didn't want to point a suspicious person in his brother's direction, however.

This was certainly not the time to be uncommunicative—his brother's life hung in balance!—but more than anything else he could not allow this person to know that his brother was a necromancer. Subaru's life might be threatened as a result of that knowledge as well. He would just have to find some way to get the information without involving his brother. "Please," he begged, not caring how unbefitting it was of a Prince, "Please, I'll get you whatever you need. Just… help me save my brother."

* * *

Subaru scrambled back into his bedroom. In his hurry to get away from the hunter, his foot caught on the sheet wrapped around him and he spilled onto his bed in an untidy sprawl. The hunter had jumped onto the ledge of his balcony, then had hopped down with the same nonchalance, as if this was the normal way to enter into someone's bedroom.

"It really isn't proper for a gentleman to enter into your chambers this early on in an acquaintance, but I brought you a gift so you wouldn't think I was completely inconsiderate." The hunter pulled out flowers from behind his back. "Did you know that you have a lovely rose garden right below your bedroom window? It was a last minute gift idea, I know, but sometimes it really is the thought that counts."

Subaru froze in the middle of righting himself, wide-eyed and unfortunately half-naked. The hunter seemed to take a moment to assess his precarious arrangement, especially the one with the sheet he was clutching in quiet desperation to cover himself.

"I was uncertain why everyone refers to this place as Babel Tower, but after seeing you—all of you—" the hunter smirked as his eyes wondered over his body, "I really do feel incoherent."

The sound of his cloak hitting the floor made Subaru's heart beat even faster than it already was, and the sound of his footsteps getting closer made Subaru nervously draw his limbs inward, toward himself.

Subaru felt the bed dip behind him, hands that had only ever been extended to him in violence were now gently tracing up his arms. They slid all the way up his shoulders; one hand brushed away the black strands that fell on his neck, the fingers gentle and warm, coaxing him to give up more of his neck for exploration, and then when surrender was within their grasp, when Subaru had coyly let his head fall to the side, exposing his neck—the ultimate act of surrender for his kind—the hunter took what was given to him with a triumphant quirk of the mouth and laid a kiss on Subaru's nape.

The kisses continued on down his neck and shoulder, each one more drawn out than the last. Subaru closed his eyes as those kisses slid back up his neck. "I didn't mean to scare you earlier," the hunter whispered in his ear, playing up the role of the considerate lover. "I hope you'll forgive me."

The hands on his shoulders slid down toward his hips where the silk sheets had pooled, firmly closing around him like a steel trap despite the prior softness in his voice. His mouth had also descended, latching onto the knob of bone at the base of his neck and sucking slowly, causing Subaru's head to fall forward and a low moan to issue forth from his throat.

"This is really no life for you," the hunter said as he pulled him against his chest, "trapped up in a tower, playing the role of the dutiful brother, and hurting yourself when no one's looking." The hunter suddenly grabbed one of his ankles and pulled his leg out from under the sheets. There was a column of irritated skin on his thigh that was slow to heal. Shamed by hunter's gaze, Subaru turned his head away, but his unwillingness to play along did not stop the hunter from continuing his fun. "You could come with me," he suggested airily. "I could make you very happy." One of his hands slid under his neck, a threatening maneuver that made Subaru tense, but as if toying with him, the hand gently cupped his chin and turned his head to face him. "All you would have to do is close your eyes and tell me to take you away."

Subaru continued to stare into the face of the hunter, a wave of familiarity washed over him as their eyes met, making him ache all over.

He felt tempted, terribly tempted. It sounded like such a beautiful dream—being taken away by a person who he felt so deeply connected to. There was a part of him that wanted this more than anything else, but there was another part of him that could not close his eyes to the reality of his situation.

First and foremost, his loyalties belonged to his brother, not to the Adunarea, not to the vampire nobility, not to the humans, particularly not to this human… who had come from a distant land and was whispering sweet promises in his ear.

There was something about this person that kept drawing him in, some powerful feeling that would not let him go…. For an instant Subaru felt that it was love, the deepest kind of love, the kind of love that could only have been nurtured through long meetings and even longer separations, the kind of love that he would have died for…

But he should know better than to get carried away with his emotions. He had been too caught up in this new emotion that he had let it control him, and if he continued down this path, lying and sneaking around as he pleased, he would only end up hurting the people he most cared about. More than anything else, he could not hurt them.

He had made his choice.

"I'm sorry," Subaru said and turned away for the final time. "I… cannot go with you." Tears trembled on his eyelids and he felt a need to close his eyes. "I can never go with you."

There was a heavy silence behind him. The hunter slid off the bed, the arms that had been around Subaru retreating as well, inciting within the vampire as they withdrew countless conflicting emotions. He yearned to reach out for those arms and depend on them, but at the same time he yearned to repel them and be on his own. It was a strange feeling, but it was the only thing he could hold onto now that his arms were empty again.

"Is that how you really feel, Subaru-kun? And here I thought you liked me."

Subaru lowered his eyes, feeling guilt wash over him for even hoping to get close to this man. It had been a… mistake.

"But it's a good thing you turned me down so flatly," the hunter said breezily. Subaru watched him carefully as he passed his hand over the edge of his bed. "If you had closed your eyes I would have killed you. I'm certainly not about to take you anywhere except to your grave." The tone of his voice was affable as he said this, which made it sound even meaner than it already did.

"I'm glad you're not the type that thinks it's okay to run away with any person and leave behind his duties. Young people can be so irresponsible these days." Then as if he had been waiting for him to be distracted by his lecturing tone, the hunter suddenly grabbed ahold of one corner of his covering, holding it taunt between them. "More importantly, if you don't want any harm to come to your dear brother, I know you'll fight me off with everything you have." The hunter slowly began to draw the sheet towards himself, and, trying to stop him, Subaru clutched it with both hands in horror.

"I really have no interest in your kindness, Subaru-kun, though it is fascinating to see how quickly that kindness transforms into a killing intent when you have someone to protect." The hunter smirked, pulled harder out of playfulness, and then added musingly, "though I suppose that can be seen as kindness as well. In the end you're really just full of kindness. I hope I can change that soon." He suddenly wretched the sheet from Subaru, leaving him completely naked and breathless from struggling.

The hunter stood up straight to better assess his prey. "But no matter what happens here, you must know that you're quite possibly the loveliest creature that I've ever laid eyes on. I don't think I could ever forget you, even when I kill you."


	4. Act 4: the Tower of Roses

Subaru slammed the door behind him, his breathing fevered as he propped his bare back against the grainy wood.

He'd fled into the bathe as soon as the hunter had ripped his cover away, and had only managed to escape by sheer will: the hunter had had him by the ankle only seconds before, but in desperation Subaru had kicked him in the arm, and then when the hunter had made a second grab for him he struck him in the chest and scrambled for safety. Nevermind he'd shown his nakedness to the human. There was no time for Subaru to be mortified, for he was too busy with the prospect of living.

But as for how he would go about living he had no feasible plan. The obvious tactic would be to retreat since he stood little chance against the hunter by himself, but even that small mercy had been ripped away from him by assassin's hand, for he had fled into the bathe in distress. Logic had no hand in guiding him here. The gray stone that surrounded him on all sides spoke of his foolishness with harsh ringing words. Without any windows or openings he was trapped, trapped like an animal, and the hunter, with smiling adeptness, had led him into that trap.

Subaru took a slow rasping breath in attempt to calm down. He had to think. There had to be some way for him to defend himself. Subaru threw himself at the opposite wall, clinging to it as his eyes darted madly about the small enclosed space. The only other thing beside himself in this room was a large porcelain tub against the outer wall that he and his sibling used for washing.

Subaru put his face in his hands. All his talismans were in the other room, in the large chest next to his bed, buried under books and ink-stones in a feeble attempt to hide them from prying eyes.

With them he could at least hold the hunter off until Kamui arrived from his meeting. Subaru's hands fell away from his eyes. Until Kamui arrived…? What was he thinking? Did he want to burden his twin with his problems again? Stupid. He should handle this by himself. Bringing his brother into it would only endanger his life as well. And Subaru could not have that.

Sliding down the wall, Subaru clasped his hands together and began to pray. If he had resolved himself to the hunter's doom, then he had no other choice but to see it through…even if he had to die trying.

* * *

Kamui choked as the large beast reeled over him, the flap of its mighty wings sending dust and rubble everywhere. The fresh air that Kamui breathed in every time he escaped the castle's stuffy halls had become dirty, and the rose garden below the bridge, where he would sometimes lull off to sleep, had been destroyed, falling rubble crushing the roses beneath.

Kamui could no longer recognize this place as home. He could only see the destruction that that despised human had brought down with him in one fell swoop. Only the destruction…

"Subaru…" Kamui cried feebly, and looked desperately towards the tower.

"Oujisama, please don't despair. I don't know you that well, but already it hurts me to see you like this."

"Fall back!" Kamui shouted to the knights around him, ignoring human boy's strange consolations. "Fall back everyone. We'll take care of this."

"I'm glad you're not also dispensing of my help. Taking everything on your shoulders isn't always the best solution."

"Can you help me or not?" Kamui said sternly, the despair in his eyes had, if only for a moment, been replaced by a steely determination to see his brother again. Fuuma could see that Kamui was hanging on by a bare thread, and it simply amazed him—the enormity of the love he carried around for his brother in his chest. Fuuma wondered what that was like.

"I'll help you with everything I have."

Kamui nodded, then as if that old despair was trying to crawl back to the surface, trying with all its might to undermine his resolution, Kamui's eyes trembled and glistened. He turned to face Fuuma, but now there was only fire where there had been streams. "I'll warn you now. If my brother dies up in that tower, I'll go to war with your kind. I'll wipe them from the face of this earth. Food source or not, I'll revenge him."

"Then I guess I'm doing humanity a favor." Fuuma, leaving him behind in the rubble's shadows, ran to the edge of the bridge, then leapt off. Black whips suddenly burst out from his cloak, tearing it to pieces, and Kamui had to keep his eyes open or blink and miss the impressive display of agility and strength as those black vines latched onto the hawk at various points, neck and wing-span especially, and Fuuma grabbed one of the vines and dragged the bird from its perch, the creature cawing and screaming the entire way until it toppled over like a top-heavy statue and plummeted to the garden below, unable to lift its wings to escape. Kamui, extending his claws, had jumped off the bridge after them. Fuuma had practically given him the monster tied up in a bow and he would not let this opportunity go to waste.

* * *

"Subaru-kun, I don't mean to be rude but you've been in there for an awful long time. May I be let in?" A polite knock followed the hunter's cajoling voice, but Subaru ignored it in order to concentrate on the task at hand.

"It's not nice to leave your suitor out here. The roses I gave you are turning brown—" The door suddenly trembled, and the wood creaked loudly as if it were about to be torn apart by a terrible, unseen force. Subaru shut his eyes harder against the anxiety building in his chest. His power source was being tainted by the fear in his heart.

"I won't ask again, Subaru-kun." The hunter's voice was now completely without humor. The door, as if reflecting his serious intent, shook all the more harder. Then without warning the hunter's glowing hand shattered through the wood. "This is becoming ridiculous," the hunter stated, and the door practically fell apart on itself, leaving no more obstacles between him and his prey. "I hate dragging things out when there's no need to prolong them, especially when my prey is so scared of me."

The hunter stepped over the destroyed threshold, his hand still glowing menacingly. "It really is best to kill you now, when our relationship is still chaste. That way you can go to your god with peace of mind and I can send you there without feeling like I wronged you in the end."

"Stop it," Subaru whispered. "If only evil words come out of your mouth, then how can you truly judge what is right and what is wrong."

"Because I'm stronger," the hunter said simply. "If I'm stronger than a just person and able to kill them, then what reason is there to care about their righteousness when they're dead." The hunter chuckled. "You really are naïve, Subaru-kun. I definitely won't miss that part about you."

"You're wrong," Subaru whispered. "You're wrong!" he cried, and doves burst out of his hands as they parted. The hunter ripped one of the flocking doves from midair and crushed it in his hand before tossing it at the vampire's feet. Through the flutter of white feathers he could see that the crushed bird had turned into a dagger; the pearl inlaid sheath and handle as beautiful as the dove he had crushed only moments before.

"You can even borrow power. I don't know how that dagger will fare against me when I'm the source of its creation, but I've always been interested in fighting myself."

Subaru unsheathed the dagger, the silver blade underneath glowing an eerie white, and from his kneel on the floor he suddenly threw himself forward, swiping the dagger at the hunter's midsection and missing by a mere inch. The hunter leapt back into his bedroom and Subaru followed him out, swiping the blade again at his stomach, but from the other side. He grabbed the sheet off his bed and threw it at the hunter, using that moment to scramble over his bed and kick his private chest open. The momentum he carried with him over the bed sent the chest sliding to the opposite wall, behind the hunter, and Subaru darted after it. But the hunter grabbed his arm, wrenching him backwards, and Subaru was flipped onto the bed. When the hunter tried to get on top of him, Subaru swiped a clawed hand out, ripping his white cloak open at the stomach. He then tried to plunge the dagger into his side, but the hunter grabbed it before it could connect, holding it back with his glowing hand and struggling to fight against the same white glowing power emanating from the blade.

"Your ability makes me feel conflicted over what I should do with you, Subaru-kun. As a fellow magician it's not a good idea to have someone so proficient in Necromancy walking around, but at the same time I feel hard-pressed to destroy you." The hunter's grip tightened around the silver blade, and finally overpowering the dagger—the glow from his hand growing in luminance as the blade grew dimmer--he threw the useless weapon against the wall. When it hit the wall it had turned back into the dead body of the white dove, and returning to the elements from which it had been forged, the dove dissolved into the air in a fine white mist.

Subaru gave a frustrated cry when the hunter shoved him back down on the bed.

"You see the predicament I'm faced with in contemplating your existence," he said as he held down his wrists. "I'm going to kill you, but it's all a question of when. I think you have too much potential to be put down so soon, but if you start to bore me then I'll surely become impatient. What do you think I should do? Hmm, Subaru-kun?"

"Please get… get off me." Subaru's struggling grew more frantic as he tried to free his captured wrists.

"Are you worried that I might try something unbecoming of a gentleman," the hunter said, and squeezed his wrists even tighter.

Subaru turned his head against the sheets, feeling tears sting the corner of his eyes as he laid there helpless and open to the hunter's perusal. He tried to pull his legs closed, to at least shade some of his nakedness, but the hunter brought a knee down, pinning one of his legs to the bed.

"Purity is a rather overrated concept when one thinks about it, especially when you consider how easily it can be lost in comparison to how hard it is to protect." The Hunter slackened his hold on Suburu's wrists, and Subaru's claws immediately extended, the speed to which they came out making it so he had clipped the hunter in one of his wrists. Blood began to drip down his arm, and Subaru went completely still as the smell of it tinged the air. "Purity is something you've devoted your entire life to, yet how can you acquire true purity when you're a vampire."

"Stop," Subaru said, not wishing to hear these words.

"You feed on the blood of others. It's a noble endeavor—your seeking purity--but it's impractical to your nature. Why fight your nature? You surely didn't fight it in the forest when you held me down and—"

"Stop!" Subaru shouted. He tried to sit up, but the hunter grabbed both his wrists with one hand and slammed them down to the mattress, the bleeding arm he held over Subaru. "Please stop," Subaru begged, turning his head away from the sight.

"Killers should not fight their nature. As much as you wish to avenge your brother's attack and as much as you find my existence to be an immoral one, I also think you wish to destroy me because of this." A few drops of blood from the hunter's arm fell onto Subaru's cheek, trickling down his chin and then collecting at the base of his neck. Subaru closed his eyes and made another attempt to close his legs.

"If you admit you want it then that makes things very simple between us." A few more drops dripped onto Subaru's skin, one of those drops by chance rolling the other way towards the corner of Subaru's mouth. Seeing Subaru's lips tremble with the urge to open, the hunter smiled, pleased with himself.

"Yes, let's keep things simple, Subaru-kun."

The irises of Subaru's eyes suddenly turned into golden slits, and the hunter did not even have the time to blink, so quickly Subaru had broken away from his hold and grabbed onto the bleeding appendage. He sunk his fangs into his wrist eagerly, those emerald eyes fluttering close in pleasure—and a moan, a moan deep in his throat that would have undone the control of any creature witnessing his surrender.

The hunter yanked his arm away, replacing it instead with an avid mouth and tongue. Kissing Subaru deeply, deep enough to sink his head into the soft mattress, the hunter suddenly drew back, but not to stop as he licked Subaru's cheek, collecting the drops of blood there and immediately shoving his tongue back in.

Through the haze of desire, Subaru could feel something pressing against his leg, and he nearly yelped out loud when he was suddenly flipped onto his stomach. The wrist he'd bitten into fitted itself back against his mouth, and Subaru didn't wait for permission, biting down hard.

Behind him the hunter had began to kiss his neck, and his free hand snaked around his body between his legs.

Subaru's eyes flew open as he felt that first searching touch. He twisted, tried to get away without really trying, and then sunk down into the mattress, a keening moan his answer to the hunter's sudden gentle ministrations.

Unfortunately a noise behind them made the hunter stop cold, the tension in his frame palpable as he was pressed up against Subaru, and the vampire was about to make another attempt at freeing himself, when the hunter slipped his hand free, the one Subaru had been feeding on, and gently rested it over his eyes.

"Sleep."

Subaru's eyes suddenly felt very heavy. He blinked to keep them open, but many times they fluttered close, until finally his head dropped forward and he fell asleep.

"You have very bad timing. You're big brother is busy—go away."

"Niisan, I don't think you should be doing that. Kamui-san will certainly castrate you if he sees what you've done with his twin. By the way, he's almost to the top of the tower so I would stop what you're doing if I were you." Fuuma, standing out on the balcony of the twins' bedroom, looked over the ledge at where the hunter supposed Kamui was scaling the tower.

"You were supposed to be distracting him, not leading him to me," the hunter said in a thoroughly annoyed voice. He rose up from the bed and tossed a sheet over a sleeping Subaru.

"And you were supposed to be more discreet with your rendezvous," Fuuma retorted. "Discreet is not summoning a large hawk shikigami and attacking the tower in plain sight. You're not really making this easy for me, niisan." Fuuma moved away from the balcony and stepped into the bedroom to face his brother. "You always did like to show-off too much."

"…"

Kamui suddenly saw Fuuma fly through the stone balcony above, the boy destroying it in the process, and the hunter jumping down after him.

"FUUMA!"

"I'll take care of him. Find your brother," Fuuma shouted back, and at the same time blocked a strike for his heart, which should not have been so fast or precise, considering he and his brother were mock-fighting, but Fuuma had never come to expect mock-anything when it came to his brother and battle. It also probably didn't help that he had annoyed his brother with his inconvenient entrance.

Landing on the bridge below the tower, Fuuma smiled at his brother as he landed on the opposite side. Kamui, who was conflicted over whether he should go to his brother or help Fuuma, called out to him again in concern. "Don't worry about me. Help your brother," Fuuma replied.

Kamui turned to go, hesitated in the threshold of his bedroom, and then quickly disappeared into the tower, as if he felt extremely bad for leaving Fuuma to fight the assassin. Fortunately Kamui would be too pre-occupied with waking his twin to return for a while, which would give the two brothers time alone to talk and also work out their disagreements.

"I want to look good for Kamui-san, so do you mind if I killed you, niisan?" Fuuma suggested, still smiling.

"If you died while fighting his enemy then that would most likely leave a bigger impression on the Prince," the hunter suggested back, also smiling.

"I think you just want to kill me because I interrupted your alone time with Subaru-san."

"There's also the fact that we're half-brothers by a different mother and I don't think I would feel so bad about it if I happened to kill you."

"You always bring that up when I've done something to piss you off, niisan," Fuuma said with a disapproving tone. "Your little brother could grow up to become twisted if you keep filling his head with death threats."

"Then how can I apologize?" the hunter offered jokingly.

"I was about to suggest that you let me kill you and give your rotting corpse to Kamui-san as a part of his dowry price, but I suppose I'll have to settle with beating you to a near-death state and then telling Kamui-san about it."

"Ah, but then you have no evidence," the hunter said, tsking at his little brother. He supposed he would have to take over as teacher yet again and explain the rudiments of today's lesson on lying. "If you return to your Prince with no injuries, then he'll obviously become very suspicious."

"Then could I ask you to hit me a couple of times? Not any of those fatal strikes you're so fond of, but something that would leave me hurt enough to win over Kamui-san's sympathy. A cool scar or two would be nice."

"Of course. I'll gladly hit you," the hunter said and summoned a large sword to hit (kill) his brother with. "You're going through puberty, and I wouldn't be considered much of a big brother if I didn't help you out with the occasional romantic advice."

* * *

"Fuuma!" Kamui cried as he rushed to the human's side. He knelt beside his bed and gripped the boy's white shirt sleeve as he took in the sight of his battered body.

While he had been trying to wake Subaru, one of the knights had called at him from the bridge, informing him of what had happened to the ambassador's charge, and he rushed over to the guest wing of the Castle where the knights had carried Fuuma to recuperate. "I'm sorry," Kamui said, bowing his head in apology. "I shouldn't have left you to fight that hunter alone. He was too much for me and my brother together. How could I even think—"

"The health of your brother should naturally come first," Fuuma said, finally opening his eyes. He tried to sit up, but only managed to raise his head before it fell back to his pillow. "Plus I faintly recall reassuring you that I would be able to handle the hunter by myself."

"You're awake," Kamui said, breathing a sigh of relief. He quickly let go of Fuuma's shirt-sleeve and stood up, putting some distance between them. "I didn't know what to think after I heard, and now you're covered in so many cuts and bruises. What happened?"

"It's not important," Fuuma said dismissively, and then tried to sit up again. Kamui immediately came back to his side and put his hard around his back to help him up. "How is Subaru-san?"

"He's…he's fine. But until the knights have done a proper sweep of the castle grounds, I've told him to stay with a woman in town. She practically raised us from birth so I know he'll be safe with her."

"It's for the best," Fuuma replied, storing that information away for later use.

"It is," Kamui said, and clasped his hands together.

"What's the matter?" Fuuma asked, hearing the strain in Kamui's voice. "You don't sound so sure of yourself."

"I…" Kamui lowered his eyes back to his hands. "I don't think I feel certain of anything anymore." It did not escape Fuuma how remarkably different the Kamui of now was with the Kamui he had just met a few hours ago. That Kamui had been detached and confident. He had been everything Fuuma expected of a Prince. But this Kamui… he was fragile, emotionally dependent on his twin, and was falling apart right before his eyes because of it. As a human that felt little emotion towards others, Fuuma was somewhat envious of the vampire prince's capacity to love. He also pitied Kamui greatly.

"He's not going to stop," Kamui said, clasping his hands together even tighter. The vampire didn't seem like he had even realized he was talking out loud, so lost was the look in his eyes. "He's going to keep coming until he takes Subaru away from me."

Fuuma stared ahead at the wall, his expression unchanging, even when he knew he should try to comfort the vampire. From his heavy silence on the subject Kamui seemed to remember, ironically, that he was not alone. He glanced over at Fuuma, saying offhandedly: "I would be fine if he came after me. I could handle it. He should come after me, after all. His employers must have made it very clear that to undermine this kingdom, he must kill the Prince." Kamui dropped his face in his hands. "But he's not coming after me, and I don't know what to do."

Fuuma suddenly felt fingers take hold of his shirt sleeve. "I have no right to ask you this. You're a stranger in our kingdom and you have no ties to my family." Kamui grabbed his other arm. "But you're the only one who can help me. Please, I beg you," Kamui bowed his head, "I don't want anything to happen to my brother."

As Prince Kamui had never had to beg. He had never had to stoop below his station and beg for help. Worse, he had never had to beg for help from a human, which was possibly the biggest insult he'd ever had to endure as Prince.

To Fuuma, it showed how much he loved his brother that he would endure bowing his head before a mortal. It showed the failings of his pride, too, but also his inner strength. It was touching. It was beautiful.

It made Fuuma want him all the more.

"I'll give you anything you desire." Kamui undid the chains that held his cloak fast at the neck, and Fuuma went absolutely still as he watched the material fall open, exposing the white shirt underneath, Kamui reaching into the folds of his cloak and pulling out a slip of paper that he then held out to Fuuma.

The apprentice assassin stared at the paper blankly: he did not know what a piece of paper had to do with his desires.

"Subaru gave me the name for the family tomb where you can find your book."

Oh, that. "Thank you," he said politely, and disguised his disappointment with a thin smile. For some reason he'd thought Kamui would revert to the creature spoken of in the mythos spun in his own village, the one where the vampire Prince, beautiful and deadly, would lure him into the nearest bed—never mind that they were already in a bed, but a fancier one, he supposed—and proceed to devirginize him—nevermind that that was not a word.

Some part of him had actually been looking forward to that. It was possibly the part of him that was still very young and had no experience in "courting" as his big brother put it. He'd like to get some experience, but it was obvious that the vampire legends had been exaggerated a bit, especially those sexual myths.

He'd always sort of known that much, but Fuuma also wondered if there was not something about himself that put the vampire prince off. Maybe he was not innocent enough.

He was not adequate prey. And what had Kamui said, he was too young to feed on.

Hmm, it seemed youth had screwed him over. Fuuma could not wait to be grown up.

"We've become friends. There's no need for formalities between us. If you need help then I'll gladly come to your rescue."

Kamui gave him a strange look--coming to his rescue was not exactly what he meant by 'protect my brother.' He also looked unsure on how to take Fuuma's opinion that they were friends now. He appeared to be bothered by the whole package to tell the truth, but he ignored it all the same.

"I'll reward you handsomely. Your protection shouldn't come for free. Anything in my family vault you wish for, I'll give it to you." Kamui got up from the bed before Fuuma could say anything, then he walked over to the door and stopped.

"Thank you. I didn't…" he glanced back at him with eyes full of emotion, "I never thanked you for all your help. So thank you." With that he was out the door faster than Fuuma could blink, the edges of an embarrassed flush the last image of the vampire he was left with, and Fuuma had only a second to think he was in trouble before the door closed.

* * *

**A/n:** In the manga Fuuma fights Kamui with black whips and restrains him with it. I wish they would have shown that scene in the anime, because it's whips for god's sake. Whips…or strings, or some type of bondage material. Fuuma/Kamui is pretty much cannon, but when you bring in whips, you know its Clamps special brand of love—creepy. stalker. love. I'm amazed Kamui or Fuuma didn't lose an eye in the process.


End file.
